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2015 Combined AA/US Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (Consolidated)

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Old Feb 22, 2015, 6:28 pm
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Last edit by: JDiver
AA/US Domestic Dining (including Canada, Mexico, & the Caribbean)

Note: this thread is about meals served on AA-US. There is another thread for the contingent that wishes to debate and discuss linens as a primary subject, including related presentation issues: Linens / presentation debate for meal service on AA, US / both.

PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST. /Moderators


Welcome to the 2015 Domestic Dining thread and the resulting discussion/trip reports/photos/shared experiences. Here, in this wiki post, I'll strive to explain what you should expect on AA flights in First and Business, meals-wise. Keep in mind that there are many domestic flights, so there are quite a few parameters to keep track of. This Wiki covers both AA and US flights, but as of September 2014, AA and US offers identical meal service domestically, so that part of the merger has its' harmonization completed.

Basically, in its' best condensed form, you should expect to receive a meal between 4:59am - 8pm on flights longer than 900 miles, which equals about two hours in the air. From that point, there are exceptions, and specific timing parameters.

What to Expect - Mainline:
Keep in mind that this list is not entirely inclusive, and there may be certain exceptions and/or abnormalities.

  • Up to 699 miles: Light snacks such as a fig bar, cookies, and/or pretzels
  • 700-899 miles: Warmed nuts, a snack plate (fruit/cheese, pita/hummus, or spinach dip/pita), and a cookie
  • 900-1298 miles: A meal (fruit/breakfast entree; salad/entree) followed by a cookie; no meals between 1:30-4pm
  • 1298-2199 miles: A full meal including an appetizer, with cake for lunch desserts and premade ice-cream for dinner desserts
  • 2200 miles and above: Same as 1298-2199 miles, but consists of made-to-order sundaes or a cheese plate for both lunch and dinner desserts

What to Expect - Regional:
Keep in mind that this list is not entirely inclusive, and there may be certain exceptions and/or abnormalities.

  • Up to 175 miles: A light snack mix along with beverage service
  • 176-899 miles: Sweet and savory, organic/healthy snack choices (snack basket)
  • 900-2199 miles: Warm mixed nuts, two meal options, and dessert. (For flights over 2200 miles, you will receive the same selection of snacks from 176-899 miles as a pre-arrival snack. All regional meal flights leaving after 8:00pm will also receive sweet and savory snacks as the only option. Editor's note: A regional jet for 2000+ miles? Hope that never happens!)

All of the meal flights that fall under the above timing parameters will receive two choices; normally, one meat and one vegetarian.

Longer westbound flights leaving from the east coast (transcontinental; non-premium) are not officially exceptions, but some flights after 8pm receive a full dinner service (such as the 8:05pm MIA-SAN flight, or the 8:30pm PHL-LAS flight). Additionally, non-premium transcontinental red-eye flights will receive snack basket service upon departure, then a continental breakfast box prior to arrival.

Official Exceptions:
The following flights all fall under 900 miles, but will receive a full meal service, with the exception of flights leaving between 1:31-4pm. Despite some of the listed flights being over 900 miles, they are remaining listed here, based on the AA website for documentation purposes.

  • Chicago (ORD) - AUS/BDL/BOS/DCA/EWR/JFK/LGA/MSY/RDU
  • Dallas (DFW) - BJX/ORD/MEX/QRO/SLP
  • Fort Lauderdale (FLL) - PAP
  • Los Angeles (LAX) - DEN
  • Miami (MIA) - DCA/IAD/PAP
  • New York (LGA) - ATL
  • Phoenix (PHX) - MZT

Additional Information:
  • JFK-LAX/SFO; MIA-LAX are considered premium transcontinental flights, and as such, receives a more refined service with three meal choices, per-course service, printed menus, and tray/tablecloth linens in both F/J. Those flights now are the only domestic flights in the system to offer special meals as another option (which can be reserved by either preordering online, or calling). Red-eye flights will receive a full "supper/snack" meal service, which is basically a condensed dinner service.

  • Hawaiian meal service is very similar to what you'd expect on 2200+ mile flights, but there also will be Hawaiian rolls served, along with a pre-arrival continental breakfast/snack (dependent on the length of the route). Tropical warmed nuts are also currently served.

  • All flights over 700 miles, regardless of a meal being served or not, will receive warm mixed nuts and a cookie.

Disclaimer: The editor of this Wiki does not guarantee the information presented above will always be accurate or properly followed by AA, given catering mishaps, irregular operations, rogue crews, or mismanagement. For the best up-to-date information, it would be prudent to check AA's website constantly for any updates, or call AA. The editors of this Wiki will keep this Wiki updated as often as possible.

Last updated: 7/26/2015 2:33pm, MrAndy1369
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2015 Combined AA/US Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (Consolidated)

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Old Apr 1, 2015, 12:15 am
  #601  
 
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Originally Posted by MrAndy1369
If anyone can, please report back tomorrow re: linens on domestic flights and what color they are.
Hopefully not those fugly tan colored we use for international. In a perfect world, I would like to see Legacy AA catering, only with Legacy US plates/bowls/glasses etc (except for those small coffee mugs, they need to go).

But yes, anyone if you can report back on everything please do, it'll be interesting if Dougie actually takes a step forward not back.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 6:39 am
  #602  
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Those tan linens really are bad. The mugs had the FA yesterday doing so many coffee refill runs on my AM flight. I'm flying again tomorrow night and can definitely report back although hopefully there are updates before then.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 7:22 am
  #603  
 
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Can you pre-select your US meals online like you can with AA? Doesn't seem like it?
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 7:38 am
  #604  
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Originally Posted by Piedmont767
Hopefully not those fugly tan colored we use for international.
Originally Posted by AANYC1981
Those tan linens really are bad.
Just wondering what's so bad about those tan/beige linens? I haven't actually experienced them myself, but based on pictures, etc., most of the tan linens in distribution look more beige and softer in color. It doesn't look too bad to me. I definitely can see why the older, pmAA classic black/navy blue linens were a bit better, but the tan/beige linens aren't that awful looking.

Someone correct me; it may be one of those situations where things look better in photos vs. actually in person.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 8:00 am
  #605  
 
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Originally Posted by rsachek
Can you pre-select your US meals online like you can with AA? Doesn't seem like it?
Not that I know of. But that functionality will come online when they sunset the US Air site later this year and get on on PSS.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 10:18 am
  #606  
 
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Originally Posted by MrAndy1369
Someone correct me; it may be one of those situations where things look better in photos vs. actually in person.
They look a little better in photos than in person. In person they make no sense as nothing on the plane or AA related is that color and the color itself is odd. It matches absolutely nothing and I'm not really sure what it would match, maybe a purple dress from the early 90's?

To put a finer point on it, most people thought they were mistakenly ordered, like the orange blankets, and when it was reveled these were a Hector personal choice the complaints from FA's rolled in to the point he asked them to stop.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 11:58 am
  #607  
 
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Linens are back!

Just had lunch on FLL-DFW and am pleased to report that navy blue linens are definitely back. I got really excited thinking that AA brought back baked on board cookies as well, but the FA said no, Even so, the food tasted just about the same as pre-9/1/14 - hot & gooey for the cookies and a litttle spicy with good texture for the curry chicken
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 12:37 pm
  #608  
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Originally Posted by flymonthly
Just had lunch on FLL-DFW and am pleased to report that navy blue linens are definitely back. I got really excited thinking that AA brought back baked on board cookies as well, but the FA said no, Even so, the food tasted just about the same as pre-9/1/14 - hot & gooey for the cookies and a litttle spicy with good texture for the curry chicken
Good news! Hope navy blue linens are systemwide and not just a stopgap while more beige linens are ordered. I remember back in 2012 when AA had a mix of navy blue and grey linens (which were inconsistently used), then eventually used black linens for almost all domestic flights in 2013/2014 up to 9/1. Pictures, anyone?
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 2:34 pm
  #609  
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Originally Posted by F&B767
They look a little better in photos than in person. In person they make no sense as nothing on the plane or AA related is that color and the color itself is odd. It matches absolutely nothing and I'm not really sure what it would match, maybe a purple dress from the early 90's?
Exactly. They would probably match up with the FA uniforms on Emirites, though.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 4:34 pm
  #610  
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Originally Posted by Fanjet
Exactly. They would probably match up with the FA uniforms on Emirites, though.
Except they would be too small for the tray-tables on Emirates.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 7:37 pm
  #611  
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Originally Posted by AANYC1981
had the egg strata this AM....it was actually cooked perfectly (and pretty good) and basically the same dish pre 9/1 AA was serving as the strata (I think we all know the breakfasts are the most similar to pre 9/1 meals). I did overhear the FA having to explain the strata in more detail.....he called it a soufflee.
The first time I had this dish a couple years ago, no joke, I thought it could pass for a good diner entrée; of course I was biased by years of awful UA breakfasts
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 8:14 pm
  #612  
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Originally Posted by flymonthly
Just had lunch on FLL-DFW and am pleased to report that navy blue linens are definitely back. I got really excited thinking that AA brought back baked on board cookies as well, but the FA said no, Even so, the food tasted just about the same as pre-9/1/14 - hot & gooey for the cookies and a litttle spicy with good texture for the curry chicken
Hilarious.....domestic gets normal (classy) navy blue but coveted int'l premium customers have to look at the dog barf tan linens....makes perfect sense! Guess beggers cant be choosers though with Hector et al :/
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Old Apr 2, 2015, 12:47 am
  #613  
 
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I too will agree that tan linens are just ugly on DFW-NRT a couple weeks ago and the FAs agreed. Plus, the following two meal services didn't even use linens. The trays had the same paper liner as domestic F has had over the last few months.

This was a bad Hector decision, but he is capable of choosing decent linens. The US Envoy Frette linens that were in use since 2012 were quite nice (see some trip reports in the LUS forum).
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Old Apr 2, 2015, 4:46 pm
  #614  
 
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All those e-mails paid off. They're re-investing in the food to improve it back close to the pre-9/1 standards.

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....tarting-may-1/

Entree Salads are returning along with proper plated snacks. The light bite shrink-wrapped sandwiches will be dying a merciful death.

May 1st is just the start. More coming.

Hallelujah.
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Old Apr 2, 2015, 4:50 pm
  #615  
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Originally Posted by TonySCV
All those e-mails paid off. They're re-investing in the food to improve it back close to the pre-9/1 standards.

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....tarting-may-1/

Entree Salads are returning along with proper plated snacks. The light bite shrink-wrapped sandwiches will be dying a merciful death.

May 1st is just the start. More coming.

Hallelujah.
Is that what bloggers call "EXCLUSIVE!" these days? Pathetic.
BlissWorld is offline  


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